Spectra Logic Adds Two Tape Libraries

March 13th 2018 - 12:10 PM

Modern tape libraries like the Spectra Stack deliver simple, flexible and secure data storage for pennies per gigabyte.

Two new tape library products are a highlight of Spectra Logic’s NAB presentation. The Spectra Stack is described as a highly scalable, modular and affordable tape library that allows users to start with a single tape drive and 10 tape slots, growing incrementally as data needs increase. The T950v Tape Library is an entry-level model of the Spectra T950 Tape Library product.

All the firm's tape libraries can now be deployed with lower-cost half-height Fibre or SAS LTO tape drives, “potentially saving tens of thousands of dollars per installation.”

In addition, Spectra plans to offer RoCE 10G Ethernet connectivity with its IBMTS1155 tape drives for Ethernet tape library integration in its T380, T950, T950v and TFinity ExaScale Tape Libraries, allowing customers to use their existing Ethernet infrastructure without investing in additional hardware.

Spectra Stack Tape Library

In a single standard 19-inch rack, this product allows users to start with as few as 10 LTO tapes and a single LTO tape drive in a 6U module, and expand the library - module by module -– up to 560 LTO tapes and 42 LTO tape drives per rack.

Self-installable upgradable in less than 30 minutes, each module holds up to 80 LTO tapes and up to six LTO half-height tape drives (up to 3 LTO full-height drives).

“By allowing users to expand capacity in small increments, as few as 10 tape slots at a time, Spectra Stack offers the most flexible growth plan available in today’s storage market,” says the company.

When fully populated with LTO-8 drives and media, it can store up to 6.7PB (16.75 PB compressed) and transfer data at up to 45TB/hr. (105 TB/hr. compressed), in a single standard rack.

The library’s BlueVision software provides a feature set similar to the rest of the Spectra tape library family, including an intuitive color touchscreen, remote web interface and the ability to create Shared Library Services partitions and media lifecycle management plus encryption key management. An optional BlueVision camera can be mounted to the top of the library to provide a real-time and remote visual assessment of the robot.

Spectra Stack also integrates with the firm’s BlackPearl Converged Storage System, allowing users to create an object storage ecosystem with tape, archive disk and online disk all managed by BlackPearl.

“Today’s IT experts have told us that their tape libraries must be easy to use, economical and extremely scalable, given the amount of information their organizations accumulate on a year-to-year basis,” said Nathan Thompson, Spectra’s chief executive officer. “The new Spectra Stack tape library is an answer to those requirements, and we look forward to supporting our growing customer base with one of the industry’s most diverse and feature-rich data storage solution sets.”

The Spectra Stack is available now in North America and Europe, with worldwide coverage in progress priced from $9000 for a library with 40 slots and a single LTO-7 tape drive. The IBMTS1155 Ethernet-attached drives will be available in the TFinity ExaScale in June, followed later by availability in the Spectra T950 and T380 Tape Libraries.

Spectra T950v Tape Library

The T950v is a redesign focused on cost reduction and intended for general IT and media and entertainment applications. By removing add-ons primarily used by high-performance computing, such as the BulkTAP access port and remote camera monitoring, and adding full support for lower-cost half-height drives, customers can save tens of thousands of dollars per installation, the firm calculates. When populated with 120 LTO-8 tape drives and media, the T950v stores up to 120PB (300PB compressed) and transfers data up to 155TB/hr. (324TB/hr. compressed).

Since tape media choice is essential in large-scale environments, the T950v enables users to select between LTO or IBM TS11XX Tape Technology.

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